A PLACA DE PETRI IN-BETWEEN THE LINES REMIX!!!

Artistic License
By MAURA EGAN
Published: April 2, 2006

When César and Mima Reyes purchased a plot of land in Naguabo, P.R., 14 years ago, they saw it essentially as a blank canvas,--- just like any other real estate buyer looking for an investment. ---Rather than hiring a blue-chip architect to build them a minimalist monolith to showcase their impressive art collection ---(which would be way too expensive and turn out way too snobbish)---, they turned to Jorge Pardo, a Los Angeles-based artist known for his designlike installations, ---the result, as you'll see from the photos, looks just as expensive as a house by a blue-chip architect, just as snobbish and perhaps a little bit more tacky here and there. Thrown in the naive art pieces and well it all turns out just as tacky as any guaynabo-new-rich-we-like-DWELL MAG-couple's-apartment. ---For César Reyes, a psychiatrist who got hooked on collecting while working at Royal Bethlem Hospital in London (right on the cusp of the Y.B.A. moment), this was not a project driven by ego, but by a collaboration ---(that's what everyone says, but then again it wouldn't be on the NY Times, besides, what's wrong with ego?).---

Reyes first met Pardo at a 1997 art fair in Münster, Germany, where the artist had constructed a redwood pier, complete with a cigarette machine at the end of it, ---which the couple are now trying to re-build close to their home in Puerto Rico, just so their family can enjoy wine and cigarettes early on.--- The two forged a fast friendship at a barbecue on the pier one evening, ---using the cigarette machine as the grill, of course---. "Jorge is Cuban — he likes food and wine, ---unlike ordinary cubans who have no food and only drink rum---, we bonded immediately," says Reyes, who has played the avuncular host to many of his artist friends, like Chris Ofili, Peter Doig and Elizabeth Peyton, at his two homes in Puerto Rico. Ofili has visited occasionally, once taking a side trip to Monkey Island, a research station nearby, ---as he had decided to go looking for the legendary sea monster La Ciguapa after having just as many wine bottles as the others on that occasion— this would later inspire his famous Last Supper paintings, which feature rhesus monkeys as the Twelve Apostles ---(which where very radical, of course, as the monkeys had aids)---. Pardo christened his daughter in a boat on the sea here ---(salt got into her eyes)--- . "All great collectors collect with passion, but César brings a sense of family to it," says Chrissie Iles, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, ---indeed a very relevant fact in the light that houses are normally built for families, hm...thanks Ms.Illes!---

Soon Reyes invited Pardo to Naguabo to survey the land, ---where they had some more cigarettes---. The artist drew up some initial plans, which Reyes recalls were beautiful but too difficult, ---as the house was suspended on used cigarettes---. Meanwhile, Reyes made a trip to California to inspect the art-piece-and-home that Pardo was building for himself for a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Reyes liked the project, ---as there where no cigarettes there— "4166 Sea View Lane," a simple redwood box ---(of cigarettes)--- punctuated by glass and bright accents of color — and wanted something as basic for the second home that he would share with his wife; his 23-year-old son, César Alejandro; and his 8-year-old daughter, Carola. Pardo soon cobbled together a second set of drawings, and this signaled the beginning of a six-year collaboration, with Pardo as the Warholian maestro overseeing his AutoCAD vision, and Reyes acting as the quasi-contractor ---(which means budget skyrocketed and even young Cesar Alejandro ended up nailing, painting and mixing some cement).

"Jorge has an incredible sense of space," Reyes says. "Some people have a perfect ear for music; he has perfect spatial intelligence, ---just look at his signature orange grill work, it's so 3D!!!" ---This was essential, as the landscape, with its expansive views of the Caribbean, could overwhelm the design of the house, ---meaning that it'd better be downright flat and dull or it would compete with the design of the house, of course!---. Still, the goal was to take advantage of the location by making the space open to the views as well as to the much-needed breezes ---they'd better be, after they came all the way down to Naguabo just for the views---.

In keeping with the region's vernacular, Pardo started with a concrete structure ---which means he had nothing else to build around there---. Bright orange metal screens that can swing fully open or be locked (to secure the blue-chip artworks that casually dot the walls of the house) were custom-built. ---Wait a second, did I just said blue-chip art works? I guess these come in less-egotistical varieties than architects --- These proved to be an engineering nightmare — it took five ironworkers to cut the tubes of steel---Pardo hired students from the Colegio de Mayaguez for this, hence the engineering.--- Reyes, who is a serene man by nature, was unruffled ---now he need a psychiatrist himself.

He understood that this was the vision of an artist---after some more wine and cigarettes.---

Inside the house, Pardo laid out a gradation of colored tiles for the floor, which creates a kaleidoscopic effect---being an artist you'd figure he likes applying colors by now---. "It's about moving through the house---or like your typical hatch on ACAD---," Reyes says. Indeed, as you walk from the kitchen and living areas to the outside deck, the color gradually shifts, every three feet, from blue to green to yellow---this is very, very, new and artsy---. The light boxes, which are spliced into the concrete ceilings, along with the lacy shadows of the grillwork, add to the whirling environment---and will eventually ad to the fucked up environment when the light boxes start leaking and the grillwork start corroding--- . Pardo had to make adjustments on the lap-pool tiles (he had never designed one before---of course---) when the bottom started leaking. Again, Reyes chalked it up to artistic license---which allows him to improvise over these people's roof as an artist would over canvas---. (Reyes, however, did put the brakes on the artist's proposal for a Chinese antique bed done in a modern cast. They agreed instead on a wooden four-poster style---it took a leaking pool for the breaks to come up, too late Mr. Blue-Chip Art Collector.)

The last design component was the kitchen, where Mima, an accomplished chef, spends a lot of her time entertaining the curators, collectors and artists who frequently converge at her dining table---she's the star of the house, the heart of the kitchen, the artist had no business here:----. Pardo created a red-and-orange palette for the plywood cabinets, but he let the Reyeses decide on the exact configuration. The Eamesian influence is apparent, right down to the four candy-colored rockers that sit below the island---we can trace this influence all the way down to a catalog the Reyeses gave Pardo so he could cut the crap with the chinese shit and simply order some time-proven design furniture---.

"The house is extraordinary to look at, but you don't feel like you are living in a showpiece, a museum,----which are normally designed by architects, like the Whitney, the one I work for---" Iles says. "Often a place may look fantastic, but then you have to worry about breadcrumbs on the floor or the dogs pawing at the couch." The Reyeses' three dogs pad about the space casually, ----as we hadn't told you that he specialises in Canine Psychiatry, as for the bread crumbs, well they only have pitta with humus----. This place is about living and art and friendship. "I said to Jorge that I hoped when we were finished that we would still be talking to each other," Reyes recalls---after the deal with the leaking pool and the over-the-budget ending---. "I think it's made us closer." ---after some more wine and cigarettes, indeed, like an expensive dress you are willing to loose some weigth to wear.---

Remix by J.